November 4, 2013

As Planned

October left us, November arrived, and overnight, it seems, the Norway maples turned butter yellow, the silver maples turned lemony and the red maple in the back yard went up in flames.

I planned the walkway around the side of the house to feature the red maple at this time of year. It's the focal point as you round the walk, although honestly you can't miss it from anywhere in the yard, inside the house, or half a mile up the street.

I even planned it so there would be an allee effect, with the maple framed in the distance as you walk the short path from the driveway to the back of the house.

A multi colored fothergilla is at the start of the walk, and the maple is at the end. It works the way I planned.

The fothergilla is enough to make you stop before you even start down the allee.

I also planned a pop of flame red color to anchor the far right front corner of our lot, where I put in a red oak last year, but it is nowhere near as big as the maple.

And yet this skinny red oak is not bothered by its wispy stature. It puts out a confident blast of red, even though it is eight feet tall and has the girth of a drinking straw.

It will some day have an effect like the maple, but I'm tickled that at this young stage it is so blatantly red in fall.

When I go back inside the house the flaming red fire of the maple lights up the kitchen window. A red glow reflects off the table, the floors, the counter.

Even in the bedroom, where a leafy green magnolia by the window screens the view, there is no escaping the fire outside. Red light pools on the dresser top.

The autumn sky at sunset also reflects the riot of color below, but softens the golds and reds to peachy rose. I couldn't plan anything this beautiful.

38 comments:

Lovely red maple! Your fothergilla makes me jealous, ours didn't do much color this year at all.It was a good year for red maples in ct, I think; here is a shot of ours: http://acairfearann.com/2013/11/03/red-maples/We too can enjoy it from inside the house, which is neat!

Acair Fearann, it's too bad you aren't getting great color this year in your fothergilla. This has been a really good fall for all the trees and shrubs here for the first time since 2010. I checked out your red maple -- brilliant orange red and gorgeous! Need sunglasses.

This is one of my favorite times of the year to bounce around to blogs all over the world and see all the fall color and you did not disappoint!!!! Beautiful!!! We do not get a lot of color change - nothing close to what you have. Beautiful shots!!

Jason, all the prettiest shrubs are too big! Another blogger, Heather, says 'Jane Platt' fothergilla maxes out at 2-3 feet, and she shows gorgeous color on her small one. http://www.justagirlwithahammer.com/2013/11/fall-color-im-digging.html#disqus_thread

LAURRIE!!!! Can I transport you to my house to work on some things?!?! Seriously! You have such an eye for creating a scene! I about fell over when I saw the shot of the walk and the maple at the end with the billowing grasses! Amazing! Happy November to you!

Nicole -- love your excitement over my gardening efforts : ) It's fun to have others appreciate what I am doing (when it all works out). This walkway does please me more than some other efforts in my garden! Happy fall ---

Kathryn, the allee effect was one I was definitely trying for! There is a smaller fothergilla, about 2-3 foot size that another blogger has, called 'Jane Platt' if you can find it. Heather has a post on it here: http://www.justagirlwithahammer.com/2013/11/fall-color-im-digging.html#disqus_thread

The red maple is stunning from every angle! And Wow on that allee! Great designing, Laurrie. The fothergilla is the perfect accent, but it makes me a little sad--my poor fothergilla put out a few puny red leaves before dropping all of them. I think its days may be numbered:(

Rose, that's distressing to have no fall color in your fothergilla. They are pretty shrubs all spring and summer, but fall is when you want it to shine. You'll need to get a replacement if yours is on the way out!

Holley, it was so hard to capture how glowing the inside of my house is. We have very large windows and the red is so intense so near the windows -- but the camera saw mostly shadow! Sometimes it is startling to open the shade --- I have almost called the fire department a few times.

I'm in awe that you planned all this. It is beyond beautiful. How gratifying to see everything come together. My fothergilla is a bit behind yours - it has just started to get deep color. But mine tends to me more orange. It's pretty but not as deep a color as yours. Must be the climate.

Sarah, the "planning" was a lot of trial and error, and moved plants, but it works now. I don't know if fothergilla colors better in colder climates. Mine have been jewel toned since the very first fall they were planted, so they do like it here. I hope yours color up well!

Spectacular planning on your part. I'm in awe of that tree, what a beauty. Our red oak is finally starting to look like a tree, although it's still only about 6 feet tall. But this year it turned such a stunning shade of maroon, I haven't been able to take my eyes off it. Hope one day it's as magnificent as your maple.

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